8 JUNE 1844, Page 2

The imprisonment of Mr. O'CONNELL has had the anticipated effect—more

than the anticipated effect, in improving his position as Repealer-in-chief. He is provided, in his own person, with a new and imposing addition to "the wrongs of Ireland. Commonly, incarceration is a very disagreeable thing : LOVETT and COLLINS even had their heads shaved, and they passed a very secluded and dull time in Warwick Gaol. Mr. O'CONNELL is courteously spared all the unpleasantness of Bridewell : he has his retinue with him—his staff to carry on Repeal business within the walls; he has " spacious and airy apartments" ; two large gardens are at his service. As he can by no possibility have any desire to run away, be is much in the position of a man who is prisoner on parole in his own house. Ile is not even consigned to the seclusion of a penitentiary : there is no man in Ireland less secluded; and whereas the Lord-Lieutenant's levees are few and far between, Mr. O'Comvunn has his almost daily, Sundays not excepted, according to regulations promulgated—in the prison or by the Govern- ment ?—no, by himself, and at the meeting of the Repeal Asso- ciation. As to any thing like discipline, it is out of the question : be is not discipulta but magister. The chief use of his confine- ment appears to be to give a tragic grace to his own effusions and to enable his people to date their public documents, not as Christians from "the year of Grace," nor as Mahometans from "the Flight," but from " the Captivity." Who shall say that a prophet is not honoured in his own country ? The result of these theatrical ar- rangements between Government and Mr. O'CONNELL is, that the "Repeal rent" has made a sudden leap up : once more the Irish are strong in the faith that DANIEL is really a great man, that he has the official lions under his finger and thumb, and that he is a tutelary worth propitiating—their votive offerings on Monday amounted to 2,6001. And all the while, we are told, a Government-reporter continues to take notes at the Repeal meetings : Government has politely assumed the office of recording the acts of O'CoNNELL, his biography, his archives, and his decrees ; while it has provided him with a residence and accommodation for levees suitable to his high estate.